


For All Of The Pretty And All Of The Ugly, I Love You

by Hydra_bitch_please01



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Daisy is madly in love, Engagement, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I promise this is Fluff, Injured Daniel Sousa, Two Years Later, daisy johnson pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hydra_bitch_please01/pseuds/Hydra_bitch_please01
Summary: This wasn’t how she imagined coming back home to earth. But here they were.Stealing herself for any possibility, she walked into the lab to find Jemma speaking with two chronicoms she was vaguely familiar with, but didn’t know on a first name basis.“Daisy,” Jemma said, clearly startled to see her so soon.“I didn’t - I couldn’t wait,” she explained quietly as she barely stepped into the room. Suddenly she couldn’t bare to look at the healing pod, too scared of what she might see.Jemma nodded to the doctors before stepping around them. “Daisy, perhaps you should sit down,” she said slowly.“What?” She felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut. “No. You -”Jemma shook her head quickly and clarified, “Daniel should recover just fine.”
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 18
Kudos: 85





	For All Of The Pretty And All Of The Ugly, I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a surprise prequel to It's Time. Enjoy <3

“Hey! Be careful,” Daisy barked at four agents wheeling the healing pod into the lighthouse. 

“Daisy,” Kora whispered gently behind her. She was grateful her sister was standing out of sight. The last thing she wanted to was see the pity in her eyes. Ignoring her sister’s warning, Daisy followed the agents into the base. Kora followed silently behind them, knowing she wasn’t going to get her to calm down. 

This wasn’t how she imagined coming back home to earth. But here they were. 

“Tremors. Kora.”

“Long time no see, Director,” Kora said hesitantly.

The familiar voice made Daisy tear her gaze away from the metal pod - she had barely stopped looking at at for or what felt like days, but was in truth only hours. When she took in the sight of her worried, but smiling good friend, she rushed into Mack’s arms. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she pressed her eyes closed and took in the moment of calm warmth as he embraced her. 

“How is he?” Mack asked quietly as they pulled apart. 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the agents take the pod down the hall. Now out of sight. 

Crossing her arms, Daisy said in a mono-tone, “Stable. A confederacy ship was tailing Zephyr-three. They did damage to the ship we could have repaired on another planet, but when Agent Sousa was injured on Leitner we had no choice but to abandon the mission. However -” 

Mack held up a hand and Daisy shut her mouth. She blinked in confusion at his dismissal, but she was even more surprised by what he said next. “The full mission debrief can wait. You’re officially off-duty Agent Johnson.”

“Sir,” Daisy balked uncomfortably, gritting her teeth to keep herself from lashing out. “I’m fine to finish debrief now.” 

Mack gave her a mocking expression. “Really?”

“Yes,” Daisy said a bit more forcefully. 

Mack shook his head. “No. We’re tabling the debrief for now.” Mack looked around the room, suddenly pulling Daisy’s attention to their surroundings. “Back to work!” Director Mackenzie ordered. The agents who were hanging out in the hallways scattered. 

Daisy looked up at the ceiling when she started to feel her hands shake or was it her whole body? She couldn't tell. She needed to keep herself in check, but fuck. It wouldn’t take much for her to lose control. 

“Kora, why don’t you go make yourself and Daisy some coffee or tea?” Mack suggested warmly. 

Daisy didn’t bother to check her sister’s expression. She felt her hand on Daisy's back and knew she must have nodded in agreement. Seconds later Daisy and Mack were alone.

Daisy allowed herself to look back at Mack. His eyes were wide with concern, but he was smiling sadly at her. “I know it looks rough right now, Tremors, but Simmons and a whole team of chronicoms with far more advanced technology than we have are on it. They’ll do everything they can.”

She nodded, her bottom lip shaking as she attempted to breathe normally. “Yeah. I know. Jemma contacted me when she got here. And I’m fine.” But even she recognized how broken she sounded. “I will be fine,” Daisy quietly corrected herself, in as much a reminder for herself than anyone else. 

Mack squeezed her arm. “Of course you will. May, Coulson and Robin are here too, just an FYI in case you stop by the common area to meet up with Kora.”

Daisy nodded numbly. “I think I’ll head to the lab actually.”

Mack nodded nonchalantly. “Of course. Jemma had a couple of agents bring a couch into the room.” Mack smiled affectionately. “She figured you wouldn’t want to leave his side.” 

Daisy nodded with a watery smile. “If you run into Kora will you tell her where I went?”

“I’ll send an agent to tell her right now.”

With another pointless nod she headed down the hall but stopped and turned to see him watching her still. “Thank you, Mack. Really. Thank you.” 

“Of course.” He smiled warmly at her. “Go check on your boyfriend. I have to get back to work, but if you need anything I’m here.”

Daisy smiled weakly in response before practically jogging to the lab, only slowing down to a normal pace when she quite literally ran into other agents. She needed to see Jemma, to hear her say the words ‘He’ll be fine’ and then maybe she could calm down.

She froze in front of the lab door when she heard voices inside the room, but quickly shook it off. She needed to know. No matter what the answer was, she needed to know. 

Stealing herself for any possibility, she walked into the lab to find Jemma speaking with two chronicoms she was vaguely familiar with, but didn’t know on a first name basis. 

“Daisy,” Jemma said, clearly startled to see her so soon. 

“I didn’t - I couldn’t wait,” she explained quietly as she barely stepped into the room. Suddenly she couldn’t bare to look at the healing pod, too scared of what she might see. 

Jemma nodded to the doctors before stepping around them. “Daisy, perhaps you should sit down,” she said slowly. 

“What?” She felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut. “No. You -”

Jemma shook her head quickly and clarified, “Daniel should recover just fine.”

Daisy released a shaky breath and unclenched her equally shaking hands. 

“We’re running tests on how extensive the damage is, but Silas and Eli have it under control,” Jemma said quietly as she directed Daisy to the couch. “Why don’t we sit for a minute.” 

“I’m fine,” Daisy repeated as she pushed her hair out of her face and sat on the couch, one of her feet under her butt. 

“Oh dear,” Simmons muttered under her breath, leaving Daisy confused and sitting alone when her friend quickly got up to grab some supplies. Before Daisy could say anything, Jemma was pushing her jacket sleeves up her arms. 

Daisy blinked in surprise at the sight of dried blood caked on her hands. “Oh.” 

Jemma sighed as she looked at her friend. “Did you get injured too or is this -” 

Daisy swallowed bile at the realization. “Both. Probably?” 

“Okay, well let's clean and bandage you up,” Jemma offered with a fake chipper tone. Daisy simply nodded, too numb to have noticed the pain. “Were you dealing with a heat based weapon?” 

Daisy glanced down at her dirty boot, focusing on the sole which had melted. “We had to go to the lava planet again.”

“Well that explains it.” 

“Yeah.” Her voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears.

Jemma cleaned the blood off her hands and sanitized the burn before bandaging it, so Daisy could use her left hand without worrying about infection. The burn was quite severe, or at least that’s what Jemma said but with more medical terminology. Daisy didn’t care. She stopped listening, her body far too shaken, adrenaline from the fight finally beginning to wane, to focus on anything besides the familiar vibration of Daniel’s heart beat. A comforting lullaby in the midst of a storm ready to drown her.

After she was thoroughly checked for other possible injuries, Jemma tried to convince Daisy to go take a nap in her bunk. Daisy refused. There was nothing in the universe that could convince her to leave the room, to leave him right now. 

Eventually, Jemma gave up and silently sat with her until Kora arrived with chamomile tea. Daisy was vaguely aware that Jemma left the couch to oversee the surgery as Kora sat down next to her. Daisy leaned her head against her sister’s shoulder. Kora silently took Daisy’s bandaged hand in response. It stung, but the pain grounded her.

Neither of them were good with words, but Daisy knew Kora had grown very close to Daniel over the past couple of years. This couldn’t be easy on her either. And yet she doubted Kora understood how much it meant to her that her sister wanted to be here for her. Daisy never thought she'd have this. People. People who wanted to be her support system. People who would love her unconditionally. People who would simply silently hold her hand.

Daisy closed her eyes and breathed in her hot drink while numbly listening to the doctors work on her boyfriend. 

She wasn’t used to leaning on people. She was even less used to staying especially when shit got dark. She didn’t have a particularly good history with staying. But Daniel? He made it easy. He made her want to stay. 

With still closed eyes, she smiled to herself softly at the memory of repeatedly waking up to Sousa sitting in the chair by the healing chamber, red lines from the gloves box prominent on his cheek as he blearily woke up. It felt like forever ago. If the roles were reversed right now, she knew he wouldn’t leave her side. So she and Kora stayed on the couch. Days may have passed and Daisy wouldn’t have questioned it. She didn’t care about herself. She didn’t care about anything, except for the man lying unconscious fifteen feet away.

“Why don’t you try to sleep?” Kora whispered as her big sister yawned. 

“Okay, but only a short one. Wake me up if something happens,” Daisy groggily accepted as she cuddled into a pillow. She vaguely noticed Kora placing a blanket over her legs before getting up, then everything swiftly went black. 

Hours later she was awoken by the gentle hand of her British sister shaking her shoulder. Daisy practically jumped up, startled, as reality set in. “Is he-”

“He’s resting and needs to heal in the pod overnight, but we can pull him out of the coma tomorrow. He’s stable and going to be fine.” 

Blinking away the sleep in her eyes, Daisy sat, curling her legs up so she could hug them to her chest. “You promise?” she croaked out.

Jemma sighed, a brilliant smile on her face though the dark circles under her eyes said a different story. Sitting down on the couch next to Daisy, she placed her hands on Daisy’s knees and stared at her determinedly. “I promise. Daniel will heal. He’ll be as good as new soon enough.”

The numb feeling that had taken over since she carried Daniel’s unconscious body to the zephyr finally started to give way as a sudden crushing wave of relief took its place. Daisy looked around the room and suddenly realized they were alone. And that was it. She couldn’t stop from sobbing in relief. 

“Oh goodness,” Jemma gasped in shock before quickly pulling Daisy into a hug. “It’ll be okay. He’s safe.” 

“I know,” Daisy mumbled into Jemma’s shoulder through her tears. “I just-”

“I understand,” Jemma said softly as she rubbed Daisy’s back, “I’ve lost Fitz.”

Embarrassed by her outburst, Daisy reined in the majority of her tears and released Jemma from the hug. “I’m sorry. I’m really exhausted. What time is it?” 

Jemma firmly shook her head. “No need to apologize. It does no one any good to bottle everything up. And it’s late. I was hoping I could convince you to at least shower and change your clothes.” 

Sighing, Daisy sniffled and nodded. “Yeah. I could shower, but I’m sleeping in here.”

She pointed to the healing chamber, which was now only a hand’s reach away. “I had them wheel it closer. I figured you’d sleep in here tonight.” 

“Thanks, Jemma.” 

“Good.” Jemma stood and suddenly lifted a bag towards her. “You smell. Go shower. Everything you need is in here, including the supplies you should use to wrap your burned hand in. When you come back I will need to re-bandage and clean it again.” 

Daisy laughed at Jemma’s blunt nature. “Okay fine, but when are you getting sleep?” 

Jemma looked flabbergasted. “I’ll sleep when Agent Sousa is awake.” 

"Copy that, doc."

For the first time in what felt like the worst day of her life, Daisy felt like she could breathe. 

She washed away grime and tear stains from her skin and changed into comfortable soft clean clothes, not bothering with a bra under the oversized sweatshirt.

She brushed her hair and let it air dry when she got back to the lab, too anxious to spend more time away from Daniel than she absolutely had to. It was ridiculous. She knew if something had happened, she wouldn’t be able to do anything, but it still made her feel better. Jemma apparently understood because a sandwich and a bottle of water was waiting on the couch, along with a pillow and more blankets. 

In the silence of the lab Jemma rebandaged her hand and helped her braid her hair, so Daisy didn’t have to sleep on wet hair. Daisy wanted to ask about Fitz and Alya but she was barely awake enough to keep her eyes open. She could ask tomorrow. 

When everything was done Jemma left to go speak with Mack. Daisy dropped her barely touched sandwich on its plate, completely uninterested in food, and walked over to Daniel. She gently placed her hand on the clear glass of the pod next to his hand and let her eyes wander. His skin was less pale, a little color had made it back to his cheeks. His chest rose and fell with each breath like normal, his heart beat steady. If it wasn’t for the massive amount of dried blood on his clothed abdomen, she figured he would look like he was simply sleeping. 

Swallowing down the memory of what happened, she rubbed the glass lightly, wishing she could touch his knuckles. “You better wake up tomorrow,” Daisy whispered in case he could hear her, “Because I’m not done arguing with you. Okay?” When he didn’t answer or even flinch, she nodded to herself to keep herself from crying again. “I love you, you fucking self-sacrificing frustratingly adorable dork.” She lightly patted the glass before lying down on the couch. 

She needed sleep. She recognized how heavy her limbs felt, how badly her hand had begun to burn and sting, how fuzzy her mind had become. So, she allowed herself to rest. Once in a while she would wake up and look over at Daniel and reach towards the healing chamber to touch the clear glass. Almost touching him was good enough, she reminded herself before tossing and turning in sleep once more. 

The next thing she knew Daisy was groaning in annoyance into her pillow as two chronicoms walked into the room talking loudly. Daisy bit her tongue to avoid cursing as she felt around the ground for her phone which was resting on top of Jemma’s bag. Blinking at the sudden brighter lights, she realized she had been sleeping off and on for ten hours. 

“Shit,” Daisy mumbled, dropping her phone on the couch as she sat up to look at the doctors she recognized from last night. “Hi,” she said in her least cranky morning voice, “Can we wake him up yet?” 

“Not yet,” Jemma said from the doorway. “Go have breakfast. By the time you get back he should be awake. I spoke with the Director and he’s giving your team the next month off to make sure he’s field ready.”

“Sure,” Daisy said, nodding happily. “Perfect.” Thinking about getting back in the field with a healthy happy Daniel did sound perfect, familiar. 

Daisy grabbed her phone, threw on her boots and headed for the lighthouse team kitchen on the same floor. It was in between normal meal hours so she doubted she’d run into anyone. She was correct. She grabbed a banana, a boring untoasted bagel with a little cream cheese and made herself some coffee to help chase away her over tired body. She gulped the coffee down, grabbed a bottle of water on the way out and was still eating the last half of the bagel as she headed back towards the lab. 

She nodded hello to a few passing agents, all of whom looked at her like she was unrecognizable with food in her mouth. That or they were scared of her, which had weirdly become a prominent issue ever since she had become Quake. It was only one bank, after all. 

She had chowed down the entirety of the bagel by the time she made it back to the room, which was good because she might have choked on her food when she saw Daniel sitting on a normal hospital bed, trying to put on a shirt. 

“Oh my fucking god,” Daisy chuckled, throwing her stuff on the couch as she rushed to help him. Daniel turned slightly to see her, but his grimace made her glare at him. “What are you doing?” she hissed at him as she grabbed his arms as he tried to lift them so he could pull on a shirt. 

Daniel sighed exasperatedly as Daisy’s hands kept his arms down. “Simmons wants me to wear a hospital gown, but I don’t want to,” he grumbled, voice gravely. 

If she wasn’t so fucking relieved to see him awake and cranky, she would want to smack him. Instead, she shook her head resolutely. “Nope. Baby, we’re doing whatever the doctors say.”

His lips quirked into a momentary smirk. “I know you’d prefer I stay shirtless under normal conditions. However, I’m cold so can you help -” He glanced down at the shirt his arms were already mostly into. 

Sighing, Daisy nodded. “Fine,” she mumbled through a smile as she caught his gaze, “But Jemma will yell at you. I’m not taking any blame for this.” 

Daniel chuckled until he groaned in pain, but Daisy rolled her eyes happily. Silently she helped his head into the neck of the shirt and then slowly pulled the shirt down over his chest and stomach, which was wrapped in white gauze and bandages. When he let his arms fall to his sides, Daniel took a deep breath and smiled at her. She slipped her hands up his shoulders until she was lightly rubbing slow patterns on the sides of his neck when he opened his legs wide enough for her to step closer to him. 

They locked eyes when she felt one of his palms glide along the side of her face. Feeling a type of relief she had never experienced before, Daisy kissed him. It wasn’t long or passionate, but it was something. He chased her mouth for another kiss which made her smile against his lips, despite his pained grunt from moving his waist. Pulling away from him, Daisy teased, “Down boy. Let’s lay down before Jemma gets back in here and yells at us both.” 

“I like the way you think.”

“Don’t make me quake you.” 

His eyebrows rose playfully. “You promise?”

“Daniel, I fucking swear-” she sighed, irrationally angry by his teasing .

“Okay,” he immediately agreed, dropping all sarcasm. “Give me a hand, would you?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders while she slipped one of her hands under his armpit to help him climb back into bed. She fixed his pillows and pulled the covers up over his legs as he got comfortable. One of the chronicoms must have helped him into sweatpants and socks, she realized suddenly, feeling oddly upset by the idea of her not being the one to help him get dressed. 

“Do you need anything?” she asked, unsure of what to do. She didn’t have much practice with being a doting girlfriend; it caught her by surprise sometimes. “I could grab Jemma for pain meds? Can you eat anything yet? You probably need water?” 

Daniel shook his head, his eyes already closing as he leaned back against the pillows. “She gave me a dose already. She’s getting more from storage now.” 

Daisy nodded. “Okay. Good.” 

“I can hear you thinking,” Daniel said dryly. “It’s loud.” 

“Sorry,” Daisy whispered, her fingers tentatively brushing the back of his hand, enjoying the familiar contact of his skin under her fingertips. As if he was expecting it, he twisted his hand so he could intertwine their hands together. 

“Don’t be,” he sighed, mid-yawn. 

Daisy took a deep breath and let it sink in that he was alive, his warm strong hand was firmly back in hers. Smiling in relief, she lifted his hand lightly and kissed his knuckles. “Baby, what do you need from me right now?”

He grinned like a fool though he didn’t open his eyes. “Take a nap with me?” 

“I’d love to but I doubt we would fit.”

Daniel dropped her hand and used his arms to help him scoot over a little. When Daisy just stared at him he patted next to him. “I sleep better next to you,” he mumbled quietly, his eyes as honest as his words. 

Smiling like the man had just said ‘I do’ she rolled her eyes and walked to the other side of the bed. She kicked her unlaced boots off and gently slid into bed next to Daniel, laying on her side so she didn’t touch his stomach or jostle his body too much. She brushed her lips against his shoulder, nuzzling his arm. He found her hand once more and held it tightly. “I love you,” Daisy breathed against his arm. 

“And I love you,” he sleepily sighed before slowly drifting off to sleep beside her. 

She fell asleep shortly after, reminded once again why holding him was always the only option. 

“Sorry,” Jemma apologized weakly as she woke Daniel and Daisy, who were still cuddling in the same position, their hands laced together, hours later.

“It’s alright, doc,” Daniel said, mid-yawn. 

Daisy’s eyes were still closed, her face buried in her boyfriend’s arm. She merely groaned in response, so they both knew she was awake as well. It was polite. Right?

“If you insist on staying out of the healing chamber, I am going to need to monitor your vitals and give you IV fluids.” 

“I understand.”

“Wait, what?” Daisy grumbled, opening her eyes to see the fluorescent lights on full force. “You’re not going back in?” 

Daniel looked at her sheepishly. 

“He refused. _Repeatedly_."

Daisy sat up a little so she could see Jemma better and pulled her hand away from Daniel. “That’s ridiculous. I know it’s annoyingly loud, but it’s way faster.”

Jemma hummed in agreement. “Yes, well, your boyfriend disagrees. And as the patient he has the right to refuse -”

“How could you refuse a treatment that has the highest percentage of success? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Daisy hissed angrily, twisting to look at Daniel. She knew she was overreacting, but at the moment she didn’t care. 

Daniel blinked in surprise, but didn’t respond immediately. Jemma said something about needing to call her daughter and rushed out of the room. When she shut the door Daniel turned to Daisy. “Why are you mad?” He was calm, annoyingly so. 

She ran her hands over her face in frustration before waving at his stomach. “Because of this, Daniel,” she said exasperatedly. When he looked just as confused as a moment ago her voice rose in anger. “Because you could have _died_. You did something stupid because of something I overlooked. I watched you almost _die_ and now you want to take more unnecessary risks!” 

His face softened considerably and he reached for her arm. “Daisy,” he said sweetly, “I’m okay.” 

Chuckling madly with tears in her eyes, she stood up. “No. You don’t get to downplay this.” She pointed at her chest. “ _I am_ the risk-taker in this relationship. Not you! That is our dynamic!” 

He sighed loudly. “Daisy, that’s-”

“No,” she said flatly with annoyed wide eyes. “I’m speaking, Daniel. You can wait a minute.”

Frowning, he nodded silently. 

“That energy bolt was meant for me,” Daisy yelled, her whole body shaking. “I could have disintegrated it. I would have! But _you_! You fucking pushed me out of the way. That was irresponsible and a violation of a direct order I gave you not five minutes before. I had it handled, Daniel. But you _pushed_ me and took the hit. It was strategically stupid. Because, honey, I don't know if you know this or not, but _I am_ the superhero and your boss. You not only disobeyed a direct order by following me when you should have backed up Kora, like _I told_ you too, you caught me off guard and I almost fell in fucking lava. The only reason more of me didn't get burned is because I used my powers, which I _also_ would have done against the attack that almost _killed you_."

Nodding, Daniel's shoulders fell.

"You let your emotions get in the way of a mission and because of that we gained no new intel and the attacker got away and you -" 

“You’re right,” Daniel admitted softly, cutting her off. "I fucked up."

“What?” Daisy gasped, about to go off on an even longer tangent as tears fell down her cheeks. She knew she was technically right about the mission, but her reaction wasn't about work and they both knew it. 

“I should have trusted you’d see it. I reacted out of instinct. I wasn’t thinking. I apologize.” 

Daisy closed her eyes, suddenly noticing the pounding headache behind her eyes. “I know. And I’m sorry for yelling.” Sighing in frustration, she pulled her hair out of the braid, attempting to help the headache forming. She was just grateful she was strong enough to carry him back to the zephyr. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if she had tripped or reacted slower when falling.

“You were injured?” Daniel asked, concern and regret lacing his voice.

“Oh, it’s just a burn,” she explained, wishing she hadn't even brought it up, as she finished unbraiding her hair. “The cream Jemma has access to is a miracle drug.” 

Daniel sighed, leaning against the pillows. “I’m sorry. Everything was going wrong. Kora had other backup. I panicked.... I - I was afraid."

“Yeah.” Daisy sat on the side of the bed as all anger evaporated. She rubbed his knee affectionately through the blankets, unsure of what else to do. 

"I was afraid of losing you," Daniel said softly, his tired gaze never leaving hers. "I handled it badly. And I will never do it again. But I need you to understand, I will never apologize for wanting to take a bullet to protect someone, especially you." 

"I know." Daisy swallowed down the truth of his words, even though she hated it. Daniel had always been focused on protecting others. It's partly what made her fall in love with him. "Okay," she said, sighing, "Then I won't apologize for wanting to step in front of you to protect you either." Daniel smiled sadly at the compromise, she figured he must have seen coming. "But, Baby, we need to trust each other. If I had been severely injured or otherwise incapacitated or making a sacrifice play, I'd understand. But I wasn't, so don't. Okay?"

Daniel nodded seriously, his hand on her wrist supportively.

“I can’t lose you -” The ‘too’ was left in silence, but Daniel understood. “So just do a few treatments in the weird futuristic pod. Please?” She sounded pitiful begging, but she didn’t care. 

He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and gave her a soft smile. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Daisy repeated shakily. “You know, when I, ah, took off your jacket, I found something.” She raised her eyebrows as his eyes widened in realization. 

“Oh.”

Daisy quietly laughed. “Is that all you have to say to me, Agent Sousa?” 

He groaned in embarrassment. “I knew I shouldn’t have brought it on missions. I’m sorry. I wanted to make it perfect.” 

Daisy shrugged. “I don’t know. This is kinda perfect. No?” she teased.

“At least I’m not in a hospital gown.” 

“See? You did dress up after all.”

Daniel’s smile was blinding as he chuckled and asked, “Do you have it with you?” 

Daisy got up and grabbed her leather jacket. She pulled a black ring box out of the pocket and handed it to Daniel. 

With a knowing smirk, he asked, “Did you look?” 

“No.” 

Daniel smiled wider. “Liar.” 

“I’m not, actually.” Daisy scrunched up her nose. “I kinda made Kora look. On the plus side, she approves.” 

Daniel nodded, clearly amused. 

“You really didn’t tell her?” 

“He told _me_.” 

Daisy turned quickly to see Jemma staring at them with the brightest grin. “I’m happy to see you’re not fighting, but I really must take your vitals.” 

Daniel fiddled with the ring box in his hands. “Can you take them in ten minutes?”

Jemma rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air dramatically. “Fine. I’ll be back in fifteen. But no hanky panky, you two.” 

Daisy bit her lip to keep from laughing as Jemma closed the door behind her. “Quick,” Daisy teased, “If we forget about the ring I could probably get a quicky in.” 

Daniel smiled like a fool, the circles under his eyes far more pronounced than usual. “Come here,” he mumbled quietly. 

For once, she didn’t mind taking orders. She crawled into bed beside him, sitting up high enough that she could still see his face. “Hi,” she whispered, feeling equally giddy and emotionally exhausted. It was an odd mix. 

He brushed his thumb against her cheek. “I’ve done this before -”

“I am aware, darling, but we don’t need to talk about exes right now,” Daisy teased softly. 

“I bought you this ring last year,” Daniel said, ignoring her joke. “But I’ve known you’re the one this could stick with since I met you.” 

Daisy nodded, sliding her hand up to his jaw.

“I love you, Daisy Johnson. You are my sky, my stars, my entire space. You’re it for me. You're my universe.” 

“I think my childish outburst a few seconds ago kinda proved I think you’re my everything,” Daisy said with a playful grimace. 

Daniel nodded, his gaze never leaving hers. “I wanted to do this somewhere special, somewhere romantic.” 

Daisy grazed her thumb against the stubble along his jaw. “Mmhmm.” Daniel swallowed nervously. “This seems pretty romantic to me.” 

“Marry me?” Daniel asked, his voice raw with honesty, “The only thing I want in life is to be by your side and make you happy.”

“Yes,” Daisy whispered, smiling wide as he leaned over to kiss her lightly while they lied together on the cramped bed. When she had found the ring box in the zephyr she momentarily wondered if this would be ripped from her. If her opportunity to marry the one partner who understood her and loved her for it, the ugly and all, was gone. She couldn't be more relieved to be wrong. In this moment she felt sheer joy, something so potent it might be described as invincibility. 

Daisy dropped her gaze to his hands when he raised them high enough for her to see the box. He opened it and pulled out a simple yellow gold engagement ring with a rectangle diamond in the center. 

“Can you wear it?” he asked concerned, once he saw her bandaged hand again. 

“Oh my god,” Daisy grumbled, laughing as she took the ring from him and slid it on her left ring finger. She raised her hand, grateful that the burn barely reached her fingers, and kissed him gently. “It’s perfect.” 

Daniel smiled like a dork. “I hope I remember this.”

“What?” Daisy asked, confused.

“The drugs are wearing off but I’m on pain killers, Daisy. Remember?” 

“Oh, yeah. I kinda forgot that.” When Daisy frowned, he shook his head and pulled her closer. 

“It’s fine. I’m sure Jemma could tell everyone the story.” 

Jemma stepped into the room then, looking mildly embarrassed. “The door is practically soundproof. I don’t know what you could possibly mean, Agent Sousa.” 

Daisy lifted her left hand to show Jemma. “You did good.”

Jemma beamed at them. “I’m very happy for you both, but you need to get out of the bed. It’s time I take his vitals.” 

Daisy gaped at her. "I think as Agent Sousa's fiancé I should be allowed to stay in his bed." 

“Don’t look at me that way, Daisy. I have been more than accommodating. Now, up!”


End file.
